Suddenly Fate
by Jamila
Summary: Flynn died of cancer twelve years ago. Sally hasn’t moved on since. Will Darren, a newcomer, be able to change things? R&R please!
1. Chapter 1

.Suddenly Fate.

.1.

* * *

The insistent beeping of her alarm clock was what woke Sally up on that fateful Thursday morning. A narrow shaft of light poured in through her slightly closed curtains and fell onto her face. She frowned against the light and rolled onto her side, throwing her arm around someone who wasn't there; someone who hadn't been for nearly twelve years now. She didn't think she'd ever get used to the fact that her husband was gone. Moving to sit on the edge of her bed, clad in her sombre nightgown, Sally breathed deeply. She shook her head slightly, not wanting dark thoughts to engulf her, like they had the night previous.

Shame and embarrassment suddenly overcame her and her cheeks tinged red. Pippa had found her crying in the garden after she'd come back from school. She'd comforted her and said soothing words. They had kissed and cuddled each other. Sally found a relief in her that calmed her. She was all she had of Flynn; of the past that she so wanted to hang onto.

Sally trudged into Pippa's room. She leaned against the doorframe and watched her sleeping, the slow rise and fall of her chest. Her chestnut brown hair framed her oval face, angelic in the soft light. A small, sad smile played on her face as a tear ran down her cheek. She was getting over-emotional, remembering what day it was tomorrow; it never got easier. Time didn't heal anything.

"Pip," Sally called, making her way over to her. "Come on, up you get, it's time for school." Pippa grumbled and turned over. Sally laughed.

"Come on, if you're not down in thirty, I'm leaving without you!"

"Mum, please; five more minutes!" Pippa grumbled as she rubbed her eyes slowly and turned away.

"Nope," Sally replied firmly.

After a quick shower and choosing her attire; a dark pencil skirt that fell under her knees and a grey suit jacket under which she wore a plain white shirt and donning heels, Sally strode downstairs, careful to hear music blaring on her daughter's hi-fi, a sure sign that she was fully awake and running around. Sally half-smiled, remembering her words. Taking a seat on the sofa and crossing her legs, she switched on the television; she saw the meaningless images but didn't understand them, saw their lips moving but didn't hear them. It was at times like these; the little moments, the things you would forget soon but knew you'd shared with someone special that Sally missed. Sure, she remembered the special moments she'd had with Flynn, their first meeting, their dates, their wedding, the happiness of receiving Pippa, Ric and Cassie, the list went on… but the small moments meant something as well, like now; getting ready for just another day of work. Flynn was meant to be here. But he wasn't.

Suddenly realising that her thoughts had wondered away, Sally flicked her eyes to her wristwatch and cursed silently. She turned off the telly and went into the hallway.

"Come on Pippa! You've got twenty seconds before I leave." And she meant it. It wouldn't be the first time she'd left Pippa in the lurch.

"I'm coming, just got to grab my purse!" Came Pippa's frantic reply.

Sally grabbed her bag and briefcase, before shouting,

"Five, four, three…"

Pippa burst in, looking scruffy and disorganised, nonetheless here.

Sally sighed. "You know how Colleen gets if we're ever late, we rush her, it's not good at her age…"

Pippa opened the screen and front door and they exited.

"Yeah, yeah…"

"No, I mean it-"

"Colleen loves serving me. She thinks I'm _adorable_."

Sally frowned. "Yes. Well, I suppose-"

"You have to agree with her mum, I _am_ your daughter." Pippa smiled slyly, knowing she had her mother cornered.

Sally put the key in the ignition and revved up the engine of the Jeep before they drove away, leaving their home and the caravan park behind.

-

"Colleen, we're sorry we're late!" Sally apologised, before taking a seat across from Pippa in a booth. "We'll have um, uh…"

"The usual?" Colleen said, smiling down at the two.

"Yes, thanks." Sally and Pippa said in unison.

Sally tucked an escaped lock of her raven hair behind her ear and adjusted her glasses, smiling at Pippa.

"So, what have you got today?"

"Double Math first thing with Doible," Pippa groaned. Sally chuckled.

"Hey, she's not that bad. Emily's really nice once you get to know her."

"Well, Doible's my teacher, she won't ever be nice."

Sally shook her head disapprovingly at her daughter, before beaming at Leah who was coming over to them. She sat down beside Pippa, giving her a quick pat on the head and a smile.

"And how are you this morning?" Sally asked, gesturing to Leah's belly. Leah was pregnant with her fourth child. Vinnie was seventeen already and the twins, Jordan and Tristan were eleven. Leah had found the man of her dreams after the messy break-up with the twins' father, Thomas, and she had met Gordon.

"She's alright. Kicking a lot at three in the morning, but that's to be expected, I suppose." Leah grinned.

"And how are you holding up?" Sally asked concernedly.

"Right as rain. It's you who I should be asking that to," Leah said seriously. A heavy silence rang in the air and Sally looked down uncomfortably. Pippa coughed.

"I'll just um, go up and see Vinnie, is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Leah answered.

"…So…" Leah trailed off.

"Yesterday I started crying in the garden, I remembered this time that Flynn and I planted an apple tree on the day Pippa was born. Pippa came out…It just brought back memories…" Sally blurted out, wanting to get it over with.

"Oh Sal, I'm so sorry…Hey, what do you want to do tomorrow?" Leah asked as Colleen came over with plates of toast and eggs.

Sally flushed. "Well, I don't know, I've taken the day off, I was going to visit his grave and then…stay home, sleep maybe…" She really didn't know.

"Hmm. Well, I was thinking, that after you visit Flynn's grave…we could maybe, go see a movie…" Leah said hesitantly.

Sally looked up in horror.

"She's right Sal, you've got to start living sometime," Colleen put in.

Sally bit into her toast; unsure of what to do, what to say.

"…I'll think about it Leah." But she wasn't going to. There was no way she would mar Flynn's anniversary by going to the _movies._

After they finished their breakfast and after Colleen would stop nattering on about the local charity ball that was coming up in a _month's time_, Sally and Pippa left with a sleepy Vinnie in tow, waving goodbye to Leah who stood in the doorway of the diner.

"I didn't think she'd ever stop," Pippa said, flicking on the radio. "Now we're late."

"Colleen doesn't mean any harm. It's just the way she is," Sally said on Colleen's behalf. "How late?" she asked a moment later, a worried frown on her face but not taking her eyes off the road.

"Well, we will be if you don't step on it," Pippa answered. She turned around in her seat, "Hey, sleepy head, what's with you?" she asked Vinnie, who had closed his eyes in a vain attempt to get some sleep.

"I'm sleepy," he snapped.

Pippa's jaw dropped. "Sorry, no need to bite my head off." She turned forwards again.

"I'm sorry Pips, the twins were up to no good more than usual yesterday, and Kelly and I were talking on the phone till two in the morning," Vinnie explained.

"Oh," Pippa said shortly.

Sally looked over at her daughter quickly, concerned. Since Pippa had started high school this year, or maybe even before that, she'd believe Pippa liked Vinnie more than a friend. The feelings were unrequited however, and Sally didn't know how to feel about that. It would be cute if the two of them were an item since she and Leah were best friends, she'd always loved close families, but perhaps Pippa was still too young for those kinds of relationships. She didn't want her heart to be broken; she didn't know how she would deal with it.

"We're here," Pippa said as Sally rolled into the staff's car park. She slammed the door with more force than required when she left and Vinnie sighed.

"I don't know what's with her lately. You're her mum Sally; do you know why she's been acting strangely recently?"

Sally looked at the fair-headed boy in the mirror.

"No; I don't." Though she had a pretty good idea. "And it's Mrs Saunders while we're in school." She stepped out of the car.

-

Making her way through the morning rush hour of students, Sally smiled as students greeted her. She was already late for a five minute staff meeting, but she wouldn't get there any time soon in her heels.

"Tessa, that report's due in today, 12.00 on the dot, or ne-" She didn't get to finish her sentence as she suddenly knocked into someone, the force making her stumble. Their hands shot out and steadied her, but her bag which she had opened to retrieve some papers fell to the floor. She cursed silently as she went down on her haunches to collect everything before they were stampeded over by the students.

"I'm so sorry; I wasn't looking where I was going." The voice was deep and round, a strange feeling ran up Sally's spine but she ignored it.

"It doesn't matter." He leaned over as well, gathering everything up. "Look, you should be going, you're going to be late for class."

The person laughed. That was when Sally looked up, and stared. Her heart sped up. He wasn't a student at all, but a man, definitely not a teacher, because she knew everyone. His eyes were an electric blue, they were so beautiful. His hair was dark and fell messily down to his ears. He had a small, dark goatee. His jaw line was strong and chiselled.

"I'm Darren Westcott," he said, offering a hand to help her up.

"Sally Saunders," Sally replied, taking his hand and standing up. Her brain was working slowly, she realised that he was at least a foot taller than her. They looked at each other for a moment before Sally snapped out of it.

"I'm late. Goodbye," she said. All she knew was that she had like the feeling of her hand in his. She left. She didn't turn back.

* * *

**A/N**: How'd you like it so far? Come on people, review!


	2. Chapter 2

.2.

* * *

It was the end of a very long day as students and a couple of teachers; Sally included, poured out of Summer Bay High, heading for home, the beach, Noah's Bar or the Diner. Sally glanced around, her eyes searching the rowdy crowd of students for any sign of Pippa and Vinnie. She sighed; they were taking an unusual amount of time and were making her run late. She had agreed to meet Natalie at the diner in a half hour and didn't want to make excuses for turning up late. As her eyes wondered the crowd, they passed, did a double-take and landed on the man she had bumped into earlier that day. Was it…Darren Westcott?

She thought he was watching the front doors as students milled out, but couldn't be certain as he was wearing sunglasses; he was totally unaware that this gave Sally the perfect chance to look him over. He was wearing a plaid, unbuttoned shirt, rolled up at the arms, a wifebeater and ratty, old jeans. He was leaning against a wall, totally relaxed but with his arms crossed. As she watched, he ran a hand through his messy, dark hair. For an instant, someone blocked her view of him, she blinked and there he was again. He was lowering his sunglasses and was looking directly at her, or so she thought, with what Sally could see from her distance; a smirk. She blinked, coloured slightly but remained strangely calm, she looked away. She couldn't help but think how handsome he was, but quashed her thoughts as Flynn came to the forefront of her mind. It would be wrong to have thoughts like that. _And_, she thought, _he could hardly be a day over thirty… _Now _that_ would definitely be _wrong_.

She was pulled from her thoughts as Pippa shouted a 'Hey mum!' followed by a 'Hiya Sally' from Vinnie, she was just about to tell him off for not calling her 'Mrs Saunders' as they were still in school, however close they were to the exit when she spotted a boy walking alongside Vinnie. He was the same height as Vinnie; perhaps an inch or two taller, with dark brown hair that glinted in the sunlight and eyes that reminded her of someone. She couldn't think who…

Pippa smiled excitedly, her eyes bright. "Mum, this is Ethan. Ethan, this is my mum-"

"Mrs Saunders to you. You're new," Sally cut in with a small smile; the sun was shining on her glasses so she squinted.

"Mrs? The good ones are always taken." A voice behind her said in a mock-annoyed voice. Something flipped in her stomach. It'd been years since she'd felt something akin to that, she'd almost forgotten. Taking a deep, calming breath she turned on her heel and came face to face- well, neck- with Darren Westcott. Her eyes travelled up. His eyes were bright, a dazzling blue. He looked her over, and a shiver ran through her.

"It was Ethan's first day." He nodded at the boy with a smile. "We just moved here from Brisbane. I liked the job offer, liked the scenery." He looked at Sally with a penetrating gaze that made her heart speed up. His voice, his looks, the way he _spoke_ to her, the way he _looked_ at her; no one had a right to make her feel like this… only Flynn.

"Oh? And where do you work?" she asked smoothly, hoping her voice wouldn't shake.

"Down at the hospital. I'm a-"

"Wow, really!" Pippa exclaimed, not noticing that she had cut in rather rudely. "So did my dad. You know-"

"Pip," Vinnie hissed angrily, noticing the horrified look on Sally's face.

"What?" Pippa asked blankly, ever the slowest to realise the most obvious things.

Sally peered at her watch, not really knowing what to do with herself.

"We've got to go," she said snappishly. "Natalie's waiting." She walked towards the car park briskly.

Pippa sighed. "Oh yeah…Ethan, I'll see you tomorrow. We're going to the diner…I'll show you that sometime…"

"It was nice meeting you Pippa, I'll see you tomorrow," Ethan called, hands in pockets. Pippa beamed, her cheeks tinged a faint pink. Sally was certain that she was the only one who saw Vinnie scowl and mutter under his breath.

Darren said, "I don't know why you can't show us the diner now; we'll follow in my car." His words stopped Sally in her tracks; she'd only taken a few steps. She frowned. She didn't need him following her around, even if he did need someone to show him around. She wasn't the person.

"Just keep up."

-

Sally glanced at herself in the mirror as the others got out of the car.

"Aunt Sal, you coming?" Vinnie asked, wearing a worried frown.

"Yep." She smiled. "Just a minute. You go ahead." He left.

She licked her lips, and wiped her slightly sweaty palms on her skirt. She didn't know why she was feeling so jittery. Really, what had gotten into her? Maybe it was just because of Flynn's anniversary the next day, _that must've been it_, she thought.

Entering the diner but stopping in the doorway, she found Pippa, Vinnie, Ethan and Darren sitting around a table with Natalie; making introductions. She watched as Darren and Natalie smiled at each other. Something bubbled inside of her. What was wrong with her, she had been acting strangely all day. She brushed off the weird feeling and made her way over to the group as Natalie spotted her and waved her over. Darren pulled up a chair for her beside him, much to Sally's agitation.

"Hey," Natalie greeted cheerfully. Natalie had been one of Cassie's best friends before she left with Ric for England. Sally thought her young friend always put up a front when in anyone else's company, but she knew that she was actually broken inside. She was twenty nine, married and had confessed to Sally that she was tired of her good for nothing, cheating husband; Paul.

"Hey, how are you?" Sally asked concernedly. Her friend had never been the same since she'd married Paul; she had changed for the worse.

"I'm fine, and you Sal?" she asked, her pale eyebrows rose. Sally knew what she meant.

"Great," she said, with a smile, her eyes flickering around the table, stopping for a second at Darren, who was reading the menu.

"Good," she said shortly. There was a silence, apart from the teenagers' chatter, in where they locked gazes; Natalie opened her mouth to say something before closing it after a moment's hesitation.

"What did you want to talk about?" Sally asked, referring to the almost urgent text message Natalie had sent her the night before.

Natalie looked frantic for a second before she covered it up with a light chuckle.

"Can't I meet up with you for tea for no reason at all?"

"Yeah," Sally replied quietly, realising that Natalie had something to say but didn't want to discuss it in public. Natalie turned her attention to Darren just as Leah came out from the kitchen, retrieving her notepad and pen from her apron pocket.

"Hey guys, what will you be having?" she asked with a grin, ruffling Vinnie's hair lightly who scowled and jerked away. Pippa and Ethan laughed.

They ordered their food, brought another table as there wasn't enough space and listened to Darren and Ethan for the rest of the meal. Sally kept shooting worried glances at Natalie, who seemed to be absorbed in Darren and everything he said. She could tell that Natalie was attracted to Darren.

"Summer Bay is a great place," Pippa was saying, waving her arms around animatedly.

"That's only because you haven't been anywhere else," Natalie retorted with a smile.

"I have too; I went with mum to that teacher's conference thingy in Adelaide!"

"When you were six!" Vinnie finished off.

"Anyway Darren, you definitely need someone to show you around," Natalie said with a sly grin.

"Oh? I though Summer Bay was a relatively small town," he stated, running a hand through his hair.

"Yes but, you'll definitely want to see the best spots," Natalie reiterated.

Darren glanced at Sally thoughtfully.

"Maybe Sally can show me around." Sally's head jerked up. "That is, if you're not to busy tomorrow?"

Sally's mouth fell open like a fish, lost for words. Natalie's face fell. She'd obviously been thinking about herself for the job.

"And I'd get to meet your husband."

The words crashed over her like a wave and Sally could feel numbness spread over her. Things seemed to darken, clouds rolled in. Everything was silent for a God-awful moment and all Sally could do was stare at him blankly, the pain evident in her eyes. The awkwardness of the situation seemed to remain for an eternity, before she stood up, her limbs heavy and declared in a voice as steady as she could manage,

"I'm going to the ladies."

As she walked away, slightly unsteady in her heels she heard Pippa mutter,

"My dad died twelve years ago. You won't be meeting him."

* * *

**A/N**: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! 


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